Sofaz Plans Fivefold Growth in Assets by 2024, Respublika Says

The State Oil Fund of Azerbaijan, also known as Sofaz, expects its assets will grow to $176 billion by 2024 from the current $32.4 billion, Respublika reported yesterday, citing Sofaz President Shahmar Movsumov.

Sofaz’s assets accounted for 75 percent of the country’s strategic monetary reserves of $43.2 billion as of March 31, Movsumov said, according to the state-run daily newspaper.

Sofaz has received $70.8 billion since it was established in 1999 to manage state income from oil and gas sales, Respublika said. Of the total, it has kept $32.4 billion, while $34.35 billion has been transferred to the state budget, the newspaper reported.

The fund has also allocated $1.15 billion to build houses for refugees from the war with neighboring Armenia over the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh, Movsumov said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Zulfugar Agayev in Baku at zagayev@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Hellmuth Tromm at htromm@bloomberg.net